While the magic builds slowly, this fantasy series opener possesses a grand allure.
In this YA fantasy, a hero discovers her prestigious new school is connected to the mysterious dissolution of her nation’s royal family.
It is 1879 in the land of Liornabella. Seventeen-year-old Elle O’Sullivan from the town of Seraphina has been accepted to Eidolon University. She leaves behind her best friend, Martine, and rides the train before getting picked up by the school’s driver, Wiggins. At school, Elle and her roommate, Naomi Delphin, are sorted into the Sperrin Quintile, one of five houses that compete in games throughout the year. Though Elle is ginger-haired, unlike most of her country’s citizens, she shares with them a dedication to sports. During her morning runs, she gradually befriends the handsome Elan Grenfield, who moves in the same clique as haughty Ashana Lytle. While training their horses one day, Elle and Elan are stalked by a wolf. Luckily, a large “birdlike” creature chases it away. Other strange happenings plague Elle, including nightly whispers in the Great Hall and ghostly help after she nearly drowns during a swimming race. Events also start leading Elle “down a path” of research into Liornabella’s odd royal family, last led by King Barabus III, that dissolved in the late 17th century. Most intriguing is Princess Sinead, who would have been the nation’s first queen had she not disappeared. Outerbridge starts a YA fantasy series for older readers ready to enter an engaging, more grounded Harry Potter universe that’s nevertheless filled with magical artifacts and adults who aren’t what they seem. Studying is one of Elle’s most valuable skills; the appealing protagonist explores the memoir of Silas Hammond, Barabus’ servant, for clues about the royals’ vanishing. Liornabella is a curious realm, mimicking the 19th century superficially but being modern in terms of democratic governance and teen slang; the phrases kicking ass and holy crap are slightly jarring. Vibrant connections among other lands, such as Wisterian and Morosa, are skillfully drawn, creating fan thirst for deeper worldbuilding in future volumes. At the end of the deliberately paced tale, the author delivers a big, disturbing revelation. The hero’s potential for adventure expands yet striking mysteries remain.
While the magic builds slowly, this fantasy series opener possesses a grand allure.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-77370-119-6
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions.
A teenage girl refuses a medical procedure to remove her heart and her emotions.
June lives in a future in which a reclusive Scientist has pioneered a procedure to remove hearts, thus eliminating all “sadness, anxiety, and anger.” The downside is that it numbs pleasurable feelings, too. Most people around June have had the procedure done; for young people, in part because doing so helps them become more focused and successful. Before long, June is the only one among her peers who still has her heart. When her parents decide it’s time for her to have the procedure so she can become more focused in school, June hatches a plan to pretend to go through with it. She also investigates a way to restore her beloved sister’s heart, joining forces with Max, a classmate who’s also researching the Scientist because he has started to feel again despite having had his heart removed. The pair’s journey is somewhat rushed and improbable, as is the resolution they achieve. However, the story’s message feels relevant and relatable to teens, and the artwork effectively sets the scene, with bursts of color popping throughout an otherwise black-and-white landscape, reflecting the monochromatic, heartless reality of June’s world. There are no ethnic or cultural markers in the text; June has paper-white skin and dark hair, and Max has dark skin and curly black hair.
A fast-paced dip into the possibility of a world without human emotions. (Graphic speculative fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780063116214
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
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